Going Home
So, besides none of the nurses not telling us to adjust the car seat straps on the teeny babies and me not being able to lift anything “heavier than the babies” the going home instructions were not super helpful.
I was forced to sit in a wheel chair and be pushed outside to the awaiting minivan, even though the floor nurses had encouraged me to get up and walk around. My husband and in-laws carried the babies in their car seats and all the diapers, formula, and other supplies we were given to take home.
We clicked the babies in the car seat bases and got ourselves situated for the 7 minute drive home. Since I work for the police department, I usually drive, um, fast. (Not to say that I’m exempt from getting a ticket, but once the officer sees that it’s me the pull over, they’d rather chat than write a ticket.) Since we had gotten married, Ryan drove slightly fast too. As we left the hospital parking lot, it seemed that we had the most precious cargo on board and we wanted to make sure to be as safe as possible. I don’t think we ever went above 30 miles per hour. Every turn and lane change had an appropriate directional signal for a seemingly excessive amount of time. Our first car ride as a family took about 20 minutes. Ah, the things you do as a new parent.
We pulled into our complex and I got out and directed my in-laws how to unhook the car seats from the bases. All cargo and passengers were meticulously transported inside the house as I waddled towards the door and up the front steps. I made it in the house and was never so happy to see the couch. I was exhausted.
First Day Home
My in-laws left about an hour after we got home. They were kind enough to get us situated and made sure we had the necessities at the ready. I felt very prepared with the stocks of diapers and wipes and clothes. We were ready. A tearful goodbye from Grandma commenced at the crib downstairs in our room. Even though we were tired, we were polite and showed our guests out.
As Ryan closed the door, I realized that no one was holding the babies. They were in the crib. We left them in the crib. We LEFT them in the crib. On purpose!! Our helpless babies are all alone in the crib! Oh no! They are only 3 days old. Is that abuse? If not, it’s definitely neglect. I’m a child abuser! I’m going to go to jail for child abuse. How could I be so stupid? Wait. WAIT! Aren’t cribs are made for babies? Cribs are for babies to sleep and be left in. So, if cribs are made for babies, then you are supposed to leave your babies in the crib and its okay if you do. It’s okay. We aren’t child abusers. Boy, I need some sleep.
Hello, Ginger!
Most of the grandparents were worried about the interactions of our new babies and our dog Ginger. After all, she was a pit bull mix. With all the negative media attention, everyone is in a heightened state of awareness about specific dog breeds. Ryan and I, however, were not worried. We knew Ginger’s temperament. I’d adopted her from an animal shelter 3 years beforehand.
Three days after I got Ginger, a coworker stopped by my house with his 11 month old daughter who was just learning to walk. He forgot the diaper bag in the car so he left her with me and ran out to get it. The baby toddled along the couch where Ginger was laying. I was nervous because I had only had Ginger a few days and didn’t know how she was around children, especially babies. In a split second, the baby lost her balance and fell on Ginger. The dog lifted her head to see what that thump was and then put her head back down on the carpet. I was completely relieved. Moments later, the baby was pulling on Ginger’s ears and batting at her as if trying to pet her. Ginger gave it no mind.
She was a very good dog. I knew that having Ginger around would be fun for the girls once they were a little older.
To introduce the babies to the dog for the first time, we let Ginger in the house and waited until her “Thanks for letting me in the house” excitement subsided. Once she was acting like her normal self, we calmly sat down on the couches, each holding a baby. We slowly held the babies down for Ginger to smell and see. She sniffed a few times and then sat down and wagged her tail, seemingly saying, “So, where’ve you guys been for a few days? What tricks do you want me to do? Let’s play!”
Over the next weeks, Ginger realized that she had taken a backseat to the babies. Toddler envy happens in dogs too. Ginger was always under-foot, always wanted to be near us, always in the way of where we were going. I can’t imagine having an actual human child acting this way. We were tired and short fused. Many times per day, we snapped our fingers and yelled, “Ginger!”
But when the babies were crying in the crib, she would run downstairs and sit in front of the crib until one of us got there to take care of the problem. She was a good dog.
First Days Journal Entries
5 DAYS OLD
I've been meaning to write for a few days, but it's tough to pull myself away from such cute baby girls.
That's right! Adelyn Marie and Chloe Maxine were born on Thursday July 26th at 8:41 and 8:42am by cesarean section. Weights were 5 lbs 9oz and 5 lbs 7 oz, both 18 inches long. 36 weeks 2 days gestation. Perfectly healthy, no NICU time. We came home Sunday and I've been busy ever since.
C-Section s is healing okay. A little more pain than I thought, but overall a good experience and I don't regret it. Not much sleep, but family is helping out tons and keep saying, "Why couldn't you have had triplets so there are more babies to hold??" Somehow, they think it’s funny. We tend to disagree!
1 WEEK OLD
I've learned alot of stuff in the last few days. Like... whatever the hospital supplements with - STICK WITH THAT. We just started using what we had at home (Costco Brand formula) from the Enfamil at the hospital and both girls got constipated. No poo for 2 days. Poor things. Pediatrician says use 2 oz of pear juice and switch back to the brand the hospital had you on. Everyone is fine now.
*Note on using pear juice. Per the pediatrician, pear juice is very gentle. The reason it works is because the gut is not used to all the sugar and a high amount of sugar in the gut causes diarrhea. There is some sugar in pear juice and so it causes a gentle loosening of the stool. I hear other pediatricians recommend prune juice for older babies. When I called, the doctors office told me to use 2 ounces of pear juice. They didn’t say anything else. Since the babies were only eating 2 ounces per feeding, I gave them each 1 ounce of pear juice and once they drank that, I gave them formula after. It seemed to work fine. When I discussed this with the pediatrician at their two week old appointment, the doctor said they should have told me to dilute the mixture: half pear juice and half water. Oh well, it worked.
I’ve been breastfeeding and then supplementing (for volume until my milk really comes in) and then pumping the rest of the breast milk to increase volume. It’s SO taxing.
Ryan slept through most of the long hard nights. He's never been able to sleep, wake up, and then go right back to sleep. Once he's up, he's up for a while. I didn't want to bother him with helping me feed the kiddos. So it was taking me 2 1/2 hrs to get everyone changed, fed, burped and back to bed. So only 30 minutes of 'rest' time for me before we started all over again. And 30 minutes was IF there weren't any fussy babies. Pumping after feedings went out the window for a while because I was so tired. I've been at my wit's end - teary and stressed. Milk production is lacking because of no sleep.
He took 2 weeks off to help with the babies, so that’s what really chaps my behind. We’ve gotten better at teamwork through the nighttime (his eyes are constantly red and bloodshot) but the daytime is still a lot of just me. My family is still being really helpful, but one sister was just visiting for the birth and will go back to Nevada in a few days. Help will dramatically decrease.
Finally I had a heart to heart and said that I've been trying to do the nights alone and let him and my family do the days, but I just can't do it anymore. He really stepped it up last night and I give him an A for effort! If every night from now on goes as smoothly as last night, I'll be happy. When the kids woke up, he was up helping. We were back in bed in 45-55 minutes. Very nice!
My family has been great to help. Ryan is still learning his 'job' but is doing better. I'm so happy I'm not pregnant anymore!
I’ve been worried to not pump or breast feed for a few feedings a day, just for supply’s sake. I tried to get my girls on a solid 3hr routine, but as soon as ‘we’ decided on the hours we’d do feeds, the girls needed it every 2 ½. So I’ve been doing every 2 ½ - 4 hrs depending… Hoping to get to a solid schedule soon, but it’s not looking good.
I haven’t been getting that much breastmilk per feeding. Maybe an ounce per breast per feeding. Very disappointing. Also using the nipple shield. It’s a crutch for now, but hopefully will be able to wean off of it in a few weeks. My girls are 8 days old and I still don’t think I’ve felt ‘let down’ of any sort. We’ve been bfing about 20 mins each feeding and then supplementing with about 1 oz of formula per feeding. Pumping after each feeding hoping to increase supply, but I don’t know if it’s working. I know that stress and no sleep and poor nutrition contribute to poor supply so I’m trying to be conscious of those things. Who has time to eat for yourself between feedings and naps, honestly? It’s been tough!
My pediatrician just said today that if I don’t feel I’m producing enough, there’s an herbal supplement called FENUGREEK that promotes breast milk production. Just bought some. 100 pills is $8, take 2 pills 2-4 times a day. We’ll see. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
First pediatrician appt today. Said no need to supplement after each feed. Will try it for a few days, but I have a feeling that our feeding times will be switched to every 2 hours or so. First try at no supp and the girls lasted about 3 hrs, so there’s hope.
Expecting company in a few minutes…..sheesh. It really doesn’t end!
1 ½ WKS
My girls got used to bottle nipples really fast from supplementing (ticked me off), but I'm hoping to switch then back soon.
Today we went to my mom's and had lunch. My sister is a photographer and took pics of the girls. (Some of the pics are kinda funny looking cuz they still have their umbilical cord leftovers.) Little bows in their hair, a few different outfits including matching pink little ballerina tutus. Everything cutesie is so big on them though since they are still only 5 1/2 lbs each. But - Oh so freakin cute. As soon as DH gets the pics on his website, I'll post the link.
Anyone else think a baby sling was useless until you got the kids home and realized how VITAL they are? One kid is content, the other is fussy and I'm starving and need to make a sandwich. BABY SLING! I finally bought two of them today - dh wanted one too. LOL. Haven't used them yet, but can't wait!
*Note on baby slings. I bought two. Tried one out. It literally swallowed them up. I was really worried about doing things with them in the sling and them suffocating because of all the excess fabric. Then while wearing the sling, it honestly felt like I was pregnant again. I had this big hump thing and was off balance. I used it maybe three times and never used it again. Ryan never opened his box. We returned the unopened one and gave the ‘used’ one away.
8-5-07-------1 ½ WKS
Just tried out my sling. These things are not made for 5 1/2 lb babies!! It's swallowing her, but she's near me and not fussy... I'll take it!
Breastfeeding is still hard. I breastfed in the c/s recovery room 25 minutes after I delivered. The girls latched right on. I was shocked. They wouldn't unlatch so the nurses just covered me up and I was wheeled into my postpartum room with the girls still sucking away. I did breastfeed at every mealtime, but wanted to supplement afterwards to get them 'full' which I think that was one of my mistakes. I kept them in the room with me the first two nights. Then the last night in the hospital, I decided that since we'd have a big day of 'going home' I wanted the nursery to take care of them so I could sleep. That was my biggest mistake. I should have had the nurses bring them in to breastfeed, but I decided one night wouldn't hurt. I guess since they were only a few days old, they were really deciding what they would like to latch on to. The first day home, I struggled to get them to latch and it was tough for a few days. After 3-4 days with not many good latches and being tired of only bottle feeding by then, I called the LC that helped me in the hospital. She gave me the Medela Nipple shields. You put the little plastic disk on your breast and it mimics a bottle nipple, but the kids are still getting your milk and you can bond with them. I was skeptical that it would work so easily, but WOW! I put the shields on and within 5 seconds, the first one latched. I was so relieved I almost cried. Then I brought kid #2 to the other breast bearing the shield, same 5 seconds and we were all content. So, now I use the shields each feeding and haven't had much problem with latching unless the girls are fussy, etc. I have looked online to buy several more sets of shields (keep one in the diaper bag, etc) but apparently the size I've been using (20mm) isn't really popular. You can buy them at several online pharmacies, but they only have the 16mm or 24mm. I’m not worried about using pacifiers and bottles, like some women. I couldn't get along without pacifiers. I think the main thing is to just relax and make sure that your babies aren't fussy to start out the breastfeeding time. It does take some getting used to and everyone has to learn. Utilize the LC's at the hospital while you are there. That was a big help. My nipples are small and sometimes go flat, so I struggled there. The LC told me that my technique was good, but to do this little thing and it would help. All her advice was really good. It is a bit weird to have some lady grabbing for your breast and touching your nipple and yanking your kid around in different positions, but it's well worth it!!! By the way, I did buy an EZ2 Nurse twins pillow and haven't found it useful. I like just plain bed pillows instead. And I also like to sit up straight and not recline - so we had to make some adjustments to our new LaZBoy recliner so I could use it for BFing. Doubt I'll ever bf on our bed like I know some women do. Just be patient and willing to try different things.
Listen to me ramble.
8-8-07----------ALMOST 2 WKS
Both my girls have reflux and both are on Prevacid. Don't know that it's working great, but it has seemed to calm all the horrible spitup/choking episodes down to a minimum. I've also noticed that if I use the store bought nipples (been using the hospital grade Enfamil slow flow nipples mostly) that they puke alot more. I read that you aren’t supposed to give pre-term babies dry powder formula - only ready-to-feed. And you aren’t supposed to give them gas drops before they turn ‘term’ either. I've given both my girls gas drops to calm them down and they aren't term yet - strange. They don't seem horribly disfigured by the gas drops, so I say use your judgment and go for it if you need to. Poor things! I have been buying powder formula and they are still alive, hmm...
Talking about doing birth announcements. So many decisions. I’m not ready for that yet.
I've been struggling with getting enough breast milk for a while now. The girls will be 2 weeks old tomorrow and I'm still only getting 1 1/2 oz per breast every 3 hours. I'm really discouraged. LC has me on 'max doses' of fenugreek, blessed thistle, brewers yeast, mothers milk tea and raspberry tea, eating oatmeal and drinking tons of water - all to help breastmilk supply. Good Lord! I'm so jealous of all the gals getting 3-6 oz per breast.
Reglan is a Rx to help in breast milk production. The dr is thinking of putting me on it since I’m struggling with my supply. But there are some side effects for mom - depression, etc. Kinda scary. Better get back to 'mommying' !
8-10-07---------2WKS 1 DAY
Since I heard premies can't have powdered formula a few days ago, I've heard that same thing FOUR times from different sources since then. Never heard it while I was pregnant. It's even on the Enfamil website...! And I never bother to read the rest of the can of formula - just the directions! No one told me!!! At the hospital, they had the ready to eat stuff and then we just gave powdered formula when we got home. Even the pediatrician didn't mention anything about 'don't give them powder' at our 8 days old visit. Hmm!
Of course, I'm still struggling with BM volume. I've been making calls to see who will prescribe Reglan for me. My regular doctor hasn't seen me since the 'medical confirmation of pregnancy' at 6 weeks. My OB doesn’t take calls in the office on Fridays and my pediatrician won't call it in for me cuz I"m not their patient (makes sense though). So, basically, I have to keep waiting till Monday to get anywhere with this.
LC told me that you have approx 2 weeks from delivery to 'put in your order' for BM volume. Well, I'm just over that and I"m still not getting enough so I'm getting nervous. BUT - a local triplets mom (spontaneous - two eggs, one split into identicals - YIKES) had her kids 2 months ago and just started Reglan 2 days ago. She said it increased her volume by an extra ounce per pumping within the first 20 hrs of taking Reglan. So it gives me hope (and patience) that, if someone else can get increased volume at 2 months out, I can wait the weekend for my rx.
I hate to sound white trash - but DH and I just went y'day and signed up for WIC. Since I'm not working at all (paid leave is gone so now I'm not getting paid) and DH is still part time due to injury from his workers comp accident in January, we need some help. We actually did qualify for formula and some food for me. Sure, we had a few grand in savings to pay bills, but now I'm hoping to stay off work (unpaid) until November-ish when the girls are 3 months old. Anyway. The girls are both over 6 lbs now - I was shocked! Adelyn is up from 5.9 to 6.4 and Chloe is up from 5.7 to 6.3. Quite a good jump in two weeks. Maybe they'll be out of super premie clothes in a few more weeks.
Well, Ryan is trying to go to bed early but I hear someone crying (not Ryan) so I'd better go.
Almost forgot - Anyone heard of LilyPadz? Leakage protection pads that just stick on the boob instead of stick in your bra/shirt. My LC gave me a pair. I've used them for several hours and really like them. Of course, I'm not producing enough to have 'leaking problems' but they seem like they'd do the trick. Like putting the boob in a ziploc bag.
8-11-07-----------2 ½ WKS
My pediatrician said that your body will produce more milk for the baby than it will for the pump. Something psychological about attaching babies to feed makes your body let down more, rather than plastic parts, etc. Who knows!
Mommy Guilt - I was so scared that my girls would be cold sleeping in our room with us (basement level, right under the a/c duct and our ceiling fan is always on) that I wrapped them super tight to sleep. Add socks, hats, an extra fluffy blanket on top for warmth and you have a sure fire recipe for heat rash. My poor girls. LOL! It's clearing up now finally... "Hello, Mom! It's AUGUST!" DUH!
I've had neighbors ask if I'm BFing, which is weird, but not strangers yet. How awkward! "If you're looking for your beeswax, none of it is over here!"
Super cranky DH on less sleep. He actually got mad at one of the girls at 3am because she wouldn't put her arms down to get in a clean onesie. I said, "Don't be mad, she's just a baby." Then he realized (hoping he did) that you can't reason with a baby. A toddler, sure. But not a baby. GEEZ!
I still haven't really felt "let down" or "gotta feed/pump or I'll explode" yet. I'm 2wks 2 days out.... If I don't pump for 5-6 hours, my boobs start to become tender and feel firm, but no urgency. When feeding/pumping, sometimes I feel a small tingle in my nipples and areola, but not "let down" from above. Shouldn't I be feeling some boobie urges?
I also have some pain sometimes when nursing the girls. From the nipple into the areola - a stabbing, pulsing, toe-curling pain while sucking. Kinda like you're plucking a nose hair or eyebrow hair times 10. When she stops sucking to breathe, the pain goes away. Nipples aren't too sore or cracked or anything. I do use the nipple shields and thought it might be that, but right after an exceptionally bad feed where I had to have them unlatch and finish with formula, I got the same feeling with the pump. I'm hoping it's not the beginnings of mastitis. Maybe a blocked duct??
Night time feeding - My girls have their days & nights mixed up right now. 3-4 1/2 hrs btwn feedings in the day and 2-3 hrs btwn feedings at night. DH is getting frustrated. We're starting some routines to get them switched back. I really don't care too much, but it would be nice to sleep a little more in the night time. I've been 'sleeping' from 10pm-12noon for the past week. So I"m feeling lazy, but I'm not exhausted.
Pump vs Nursing- I feel kinda bad, but tandem nursing is so labor intensive and I can't do it by myself yet. BFing one at a time takes way too long. I'm actually prefering to pump over nursing. I think for night time feeds, I'm gonna start waking up 30 mins before chow time and pump and then give them that. We've been doing formula only at night and I've got BM stacking up in the freezer...
I'll shut up now....LOL. So many concerns for a FTM, but that's the process I guess.
8-13-07----------2 ½ WKS
I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who likes pumping more. My mom is a twin and back in 1958 when she was born, it was unheard of to attempt to BF twins. She is proud of me for trying. She’s always offering to help me tandem BF, but today I had to tell her about my pumping preference. I think she was a little surprised, but she understood. Still having supply issues. I will call my dr tomorrow about Reglan and hope it will get me to 5-7 oz every 3-4 hrs.
I’ve probably got WAY too much in my diaper bag, but I also have a trial size lotion, some pacifiers as a pp suggests, some hand sanitizer, some boob and panties pads for me, and some formula and a bottle of water – just in case. Never thought the bottled water would come in handy, but it did just the other day – middle of a dr appt and didn’t want to use the cruddy drinking fountain water. I also have a ‘backup bag’ in the minivan with extra diapers, onesies and blankets, just in case we’re somewhere for WAY too long.
I was scared to take care of the girls on my own. It was hard for me to adjust at first, but it was also nice to do it all on my own for a change and be the one ‘taking care of my babies.’ And I hear ya about the 3-hour schedule passing so fast….I've only got an hour left. Sigh!
Dh and I are thinking of doing the “mommy night shift” and “daddy day shift” thing too. He’s much too cranky at night to be of much use.
I have been struggling with supply since the girls were born. Tried the herbs, etc. They did help, but not super a lot. I’ll call the dr tomorrow to get the rx called in. A week ago, I also started keeping track of how many oz per breast per pumping and at what time and it seemed to help me identify some problems. A little labor intensive, but I only did it for 4-5 days. It really seemed to help.
I tried to nurse, then supplement and then pump. I gave that up after 2-3 days. Now it’s mostly pump or formula. I feel a little bad about not trying harder to nurse them, but we can only do what we can do, right? I haven’t had a problem with needing to wake anyone to eat. One is usually wanting to chow down by the time 3-4 hours is up. My pedi says don’t let them go longer than 5 hrs btwn feedings, and only do the 5 hr stretch once per day.
How can you prevent leaking during pumping?? I’m constantly holding the darn things on so they won’t leak. But even with holding them, if I'm not really careful, I feel a dribble down my belly. Bugs me! I bought the ‘soft shield’ guard things online, but am waiting now for the special connector to try them out. I’m hoping these help stop the leaking and maybe give me some more comfort. I’m also considering a bigger breast guard. Don’t know what size I currently have though. If I don’t position it just right, the nipple is rubbing. It CAN fit in if it’s positioned just perfectly. Too much hassle though.
I'm eating more now than I was when I was pregnant. Night routine is get up, change them, feed them, burp them, get pumping stuff ready AND make a sandwich or oatmeal before I sit down to pump. I thought my bottomless pit days were gone...
8-14-07------------ALMOST 3 WKS
My girls cannot hold pacifiers in their mouths. Suck, suck – POP. WAAAH! It’s way frustrating. DH and I have decided that we’d make millions if we could invent something that will keep those binkies in. We’ve thought about tying rubber bands to the holes of the pacifiers and looping it around their ears. I heard a tip that you can slowly tug on the pacifier while the baby is sucking on it and it will strengthen their sucking reflex. Worth trying out!
The last few nights, we’ve done the ‘mommy night shift’ and ‘daddy day shift’ thing. It’s worked pretty well. It’s frustrating at night when they are both crying and I can only feed/change/burp one at a time. I guess it will get them used to waiting their turn. “She who screams loudest…”
But last night, I pulled the night shift and now DH is back at work till 4pm. I’m not doing too bad. Just started the Reglan so I’m worried about fatigue, but nothing yet. We’ll see..
Got a Merry Maids gift certificate from my mom as a baby shower gift. Have a call in to have them clean the bathrooms and do the kitchen/entry floors. Hope to get the house clean-er by the time MIL gets here for a 10 day visit - she's staying with us. Nice...yet a little concerning at the same time.
8-17-07---------3 WKS
Still a supply problem. I started going down once getting on reglan. WTF?
Newsflash: Reglan is no miracle for this mama! Started Reglan on Monday. Per advice of the LC, I stopped all the herbs. Supply went from just over 2oz per breast every 3 hrs to ONLY 1 1/4oz every 3. I'm so freakin ticked! Pedi said I could use the herbs and the Rx at the same time, so I'm back on both - supply seems to be back up to 2oz per every 3. But I don't seem to still be increasing. So, I'm staying on BOTH the Reglan and the herbs and crossing my fingers that we'll see some small improvements soon. LC also suggested I rent a hospital grade pump and that might help 'extract' more so I'll produce more. Hmm. I have the top of the line Medela Pump In Style. Sigh. Whatever. If nothing works, I'll just feed what I can and supplement. There's more money out the window.
Things are good. We went to visit DH today at the grocery store where he works. Those Double Snap N Go's are GREAT! I even did a little shopping and put my items in the underneath bin thing.
I’m super afraid of locking my babies in the car accidentally. I always leave one door open wide when I'm fiddling around with car seats, etc. Or I roll one window down. Next "errand" is phone calls to get prices on automatic unlocker things for the minivan. What a pain to not have one!
I was clipping Chloe's nails yesterday (was too tired to be doing it - plus had bad lighting) and accidentally clipped her little pointer finger. It bled. Sheesh. Then today, I pinched her other pointer finger in the car seat clasp. Poor kid. She's so abused. It's all a learning experience.
8-22-07-----------ALMOST 4 WKS
Constipation - My girls were constipated about a week after coming home from the hospital. Pedi told me to use pear juice and it worked! They suggested 2 oz per baby, but that was an entire feed, so I gave 1 oz pear juice and 1 oz formula and within 12 hours, they were filling diapers to their heart's content.
I've been busy the last few days. But I seriously don't know how I'd make it without my family. My mom takes the girls on Fridays & Saturdays from 9am until whenever I get out of bed and drive over there. She comes to pick up the minivan and then drives the girls to her house. I've slept SO much on weekends, I feel spoiled. Then, my sister comes over during the day when she doesn't work and MAKES me take a nap. I'm almost worried that I'm getting used to the sleep - last night and today, I'm on my own and it's been rough!
Still issues with BM supply. Tried the 'miracle drug' Reglan - no miracle AND depression. I was making a pb&j sandwich and put too much jelly on the bread and started bawling... If that's not PPD, I don't know what is. I decided to stop taking Reglan and now I feel much better and able to control my emotions better.
I hate pumping, but it's what works best. I originally thought my goal would be one year of BFing. It's now gone from only 6 months to MAYBE 6 weeks. We're at 4 weeks now and every day is tough. I'll try to keep BFing until I go back to work in Oct/Nov, but I don't know that it's worth it. Time consuming and not alot of output gives me second thoughts on going past 6 weeks.
Are we going through a 'growth spurt'? My girls were doing day time feeds every 3hrs and night time every 4hrs. Now we're at 2 - 2 1/2 hrs around the clock. I'm getting tired and frustrated with it. They spit up SO much, every feed is a little which is normal. But about twice in 24hrs they will yarf up almost their entire meal. Poor things. They've been on Prevacid for weeks. We've tried the Enfamil with Rice for "40% less spit ups" and it's not working (let alone it doesnt get through the slow flow nipples well at all). I'm almost at my wit's end with this issue.
And they are so completely fussy, unless they are being held. They also sleep better on their tummies, but I'm worried about SIDS. SIGH!
8-28-07--------1 MONTH
My girls have such bad reflux and have been spitting up almost their whole meal several times a day. The puke comes out the mouth and the nose. It's hard to see your kids panicking and in pain/uncomfortable. They are now on THREE medicines each day - Prevacid in the morning, Axid at night, and Reglan 3 times a day.
Sometimes they spit up 2 hours after a meal and it doesn't look at all curdled or digested. That's what the Reglan is for.....We'll see.
Adelyn seems to be doing better, but poor little Chloe is still puking about the same as she was before the meds. Sigh.
MIL is staying for a week. Has been here for two days. The first day she wanted to more 'play dolls' than stick to a schedule. She really didn't understand how much work it was to keep two of them content. Now she's catching on...
Well, there's laundry to fold, dishes to do, bottles to clean and I'm sure there's some other stuff waiting - like my shower!
OH! And I changed my voicemail message on my phone to something like this - "Hi, it's Rachel. I'm either feeding the twins, burping the twins, or changing the twins. I could also be sleeping or WISH I was sleeping. Leave a message and I'll get back to you in the next 18 years..." LMAO!
8-30-07----------5 WKS
I totally couldn't go another minute after 36w2d. I was DONE.
Feeding both at the same time by myself - I found that if I wake up about 15-20 minutes before they are 'due' to eat and feed Chloe (she's always hungry first) and get her burped, THEN wake Adelyn up and feed her - it's alot less stressful. Otherwise I have to prop bottles with blankets and feel bad doing that. Wondering if there’s a better idea.
Pumping - Sigh. I have felt better since I haven't been on a pumping schedule. I only pump about every 5-7 hours. I get about 3.5-5oz per breast per session. I have noticed in the last few days that I haven't been getting many 5oz pers but more like 3 3/4. So, I guess I'm drying up?? But I'm okay with it. We've got tons frozen and I'd like to not have to plan my day around when I can leave without having to drag the pump along. Planning around the babies eating is enough! Can't imagine doing the every 3-4 hours anymore - that was AWFUL. All those struggling (me included) just remember - you've done your best, you can't do anymore than you have done - and it's okay! My mom is a twin and was NEVER bf and she graduated from college and doesn't have allergies or any health problems, so it's not like your kids will completely suffer if you don't bf.
I'm all for moving boards - I guess we've been waiting for everyone to deliver, but I think we're about done.
MIL has been here all week "helping" but I guess I have gotten more sleep than usual. I've been happy to have her here, but it'll be nice to just walk around in my nursing bra and underwear again. LOL! But I haven't felt confident enough to leave her alone even for one feeding.
Bathing
Since I was a first time mom, I had no idea how to give a baby a bath, let alone two babies. Let me first say that my common sense said it’s never safe to bathe two babies at once. Practically, it would be easier to do them one at a time, in succession. Once the kids get older, bath time might get easier. But for newborns, bathtime is a chore.
I was given a baby bath plastic tub thing. I didn’t think I’d use it. But when my kids were born at 5 ½ pounds each, the plastic tub was quite necessary until I got the hang of where to grab and how to hold on. For the very first bath at home, I had my mom come over and do the bath on the first baby, and then watch me do the bath on the second baby. I think out of sheer terror, Ryan never bathed the girls until they were maybe a month old. So, by then, I had a system down and it was easy to explain to him.
Some parents choose to have both kids at the ready, but I found it easier and safer to do everything one at a time. One child waits and plays in the living room while one child gets my full attention. Then when the first child is dry, diapered, clothed and happily playing, you can get child two ready for the bath. Doing it alone, bath time took maybe 30-45 minutes from setting up to drying and diapering to cleaning up. But it was well worth it. I felt I got time to individually bond with each baby. I got to sing to them and play without worrying that the other child was crying – they were content in the living room.
I chose to do my baby baths in the kitchen sink area. For the first few weeks, I used the plastic tub thing. Once I understood how to hold a baby correctly while bathing, etc, I chose to ditch the plastic tub (one more thing to clean) and just do baths in the sink itself. The babies outgrew our standard size and depth sink at 4 months, but we continued doing baths there until almost 6 months. The bigger they got, the wetter our clothes got from bathing them. I wanted a larger, deeper sink installed so I could continue doing baths standing up instead of leaning over the tub, but it all worked out okay.
The best bath in the kitchen scenario is as follows: Have supplies prepped, prep baby number one, bathe one baby, dry one baby, diaper one baby, clothe one baby, get baby playing contently in a safe place, prep baby number two and repeat.
Items to gather – baby bath, shampoo, oil or lotion, 2 washcloths, 2 towels, and a place to put the baby. I purchased a foam bath form to lay the baby on while bathing ($5 at Walmart) and just put in on the counter with the dry towel on it next to the sink. I would have the water already the right temperature and depth in the sink, the towel laid out on the foam cushion, the washcloth ready.
I preferred a pump style dispenser baby bath, but flip top lids are okay too. Any screw top safety lids were too cumbersome to deal with during bath time when you must keep one hand on the child and need two hands to open the screw top safety container. I never considered this would be important until I needed baby bath or oil out of a two handed bottle.
Gently lower the baby in the bath and wash the face first. Use the wet washcloth and tart with the eyes, inside corner to outside corner. Use a different part of the washcloth to do the other eye, again inside corner to outside corner. From there, I would wipe the cheeks and mouth. It’s really whatever you prefer, but once their little bum hits that water, those little germs are floating in the water. I preferred to get their face done first and worry about the rest later.
In their first weeks of life, I bathed them every day. Their little feet and hands flaked with dry skin. I applied lotion and wondered why their skin was so dry. At our 2 weeks old pediatrician appointment, I was proud to state that I bathed both children every day. The pediatrician stated that a few times a week was plenty and the reason their feet and hands were dry was from excessive water and soap. Then I imagined my babies playing in mud and digging in the flower beds and rolling around with the dog. My babies did none of these activities. Was it really necessary that I spent time and energy bathing them each every day? I just got a free ticket to more naps! Yes! So, we cut back on baths. The dry, flaky skin improved quickly.
With time and hundreds of bottles, my kids got chubby and with chubby comes rolls. We first noticed neck rolls. I wasn’t diligent about cleaning under their little fat rolls and they ended up with “stinky neck rash” meaning the spit up accumulated in the crevices and between germs from stomach acid, neck sweat, body heat and mommy not washing this area well, now we had a problem on our hands. So, during baths, I would take the washcloth and separate the little chubby layers. I couldn’t feel it well, so I decided to ditch the washcloth for the neck area and just use soap and my hand. That worked much better. I was able to feel the different skin textures: rash area versus healthy skin area. We battled this for months. Between acid reflux, teething drool, and being chubby, stinky neck rash was a regular thing if we weren’t right on top of it. At our 6 month appointment, the pediatrician prescribed a special powder since all the triple antibiotic ointment, diaper rash cream, antifungal cream and anything we tried wasn’t working well anymore.
My girls also accumulated spit up behind their ears. And sadly, it took me a few weeks to realize it. I’ve heard that moms gripe at kids to wash behind their ears, but never put it to much use until I noticed crusties. So, each bath, I did all the normal bath stuff and made sure to get the neck and behind the ears as well. Of course, you don’t want to get water inside the ear, so be careful.
Oil vs Lotion
My mother-in-law loves to lotion my babies. But, I’m a mom of twins who works full time. I do not have time. So, I found an alternative solution to moisturizing babies. At the end of a bath, I squirt a little baby oil in my hand or in the bath water and rub and swish. It gets enough oil on to be moisturized and I don’t have to feel like a bad mother for not lotioning my children.
Cleaning and Laundry and Dishes, Oh my!
I am by no means a fantastic housekeeper. I work full time at a high stress job. When I come home, my idea of relaxing is not scrubbing. I chatted with another expectant mom dispatcher who mentioned that she was a neat freak. She also mentioned that all through her growing up years, her mother cleaned everything with bleach. She further mentioned that she was always sick as a baby and so were her siblings. Hmm.
With twins on the way, I started to feel terrible that I had such a messy house for my babies to come home to. But I couldn’t imagine myself scrubbing floors, dusting every day, and sterilizing everything in sight. It just wasn’t me. My husband liked a clean house, but wasn’t a freak about it. Common sense, laziness, and the previous story told me that exposing my babies to some household germs was good. It would build up their immune systems, or so I hoped. We also had Ginger, who shed once a year like a red fluffing blizzard. Between normal everyday dirt and grime, plus a bounty of pet coat leftovers, my girls were about to be exposed to plenty of immune system building germs.
Thankfully, by age six months, the only illness I could report was the mimicking of their parents coughs. I am very lucky they never got sick during those early days. Not a single ear ache. Not a horrible runny nose. I was very lucky.
Get ready for laundry, lots of laundry. It doesn’t stop. It only stops if you take the babies with you and go out of town for a week. The dishwasher wherever you go for that week gets a workout. Your dishwasher rests.
While pregnant, I thought “If I can have enough clothes and burp cloths and blankets to only have to do baby laundry every other day, I’m set.” I bought tons of everything, thinking I’d save myself some time and laundry. I had probably 50 burp cloths, but with the reflux, we needed more than that.
Babies have sensitive skin. I researched all the baby laundry detergents. I ended up buying the cheap stuff, or whatever was on sale. It didn’t really matter. Sometimes, a few outfits or a blanket would get in our wash load. We used regular detergent for us. My girls never had rashes or skin trouble when they wore those accidentally. We gave up on ‘baby detergent’ at age six months.
No matter how much clean stuff I have, I still do baby laundry every day. Sometimes I do two loads in a day. Kids are messy. There’s no getting around it. Now I want to keep up on it rather than letting it go for a few days and have hell to pay.
Dishes are a whole other ball game. Let me tell you something here. I wanted to try several different kinds of bottles and see which ones the babies liked. We tried regular old hard plastic bottles. We tried disposable liner bottles. We tried venting bottoms bottles. The reflux didn’t seem to change with anything. Well, the babies luckily didn’t really care. As long as sucking equals milk, they weren’t picky on the type of nipple.
I wanted the disposable liner bottles. Throwing away parts cuts down on cleaning for me. Sounded great. My husband, however, felt we would be filling up the landfills if we used these bottles. (But disposable diapers were fine. Whatever!)
My husband decided that since the vent bottom bottles weren’t destroying the ozone and cluttering up the landfills of America, that we would use these bottles. Sigh. I ordered more from various sellers on eBay. I sterilized them and we were in business.
There were five pieces to a single bottle: the nipple, the nipple ring, the hard plastic cylinder that held the milk, the venting disk, and the plastic bottom piece that held the venting disk in place. The time involved in taking apart, washing, and putting back together at least sixteen bottles per day put me over the edge. I would empty out the four dishwasher baskets made for washing bottle parts. (These little baskets were a lifesaver. A highly recommended product!) I emptied all the bottle parts into a large plastic bin, almost big enough to wash a baby in. I sat down on the couch and watched television for twenty minutes while I mindlessly, but meticulously screwed bottle ends on, and pulled nipples into their rings. Sometimes they leaked if you didn’t put the venting disk in the bottom just right. Sometimes they leaked if they weren’t screwed on tight enough. Sometimes they wouldn’t let milk come out if the bottoms were on too tight.
After several weeks of using the vent bottom bottles, I was done and went on strike. I started using my disposable liner bottles again. If he wanted the time consuming bottles, it was his job. I did every once in a while when he was sick, or had been working a lot. But “doing bottles” was now Ryan’s job.
We were told to introduce sippy cups at 6 months old and be off of bottles completely by 12 months. Well, by 6 months, my girls were just starting to hold their own bottles for a few moments at a time. They couldn’t hold their bottles the whole feeding, but they were learning. So, I have to hold the sippy cup? I don’t think so!
A quick note on pacifiers before you make any purchases. I bought a few of some of the more popular types just to have on hand at home. The hospital did supply a few Soothie brand pacifiers for us to use. We got home and tried the different types. My girls were picky for pacifiers. They only liked the hospital issue Soothie green pacifiers. I tried the Soothie yellow pacifiers (stronger sides for children with teeth) once they started teething, but they wouldn’t have it. I have probably 15-20 pacifiers on hand. We wash them in the dishwasher every once in a while just for kicks.
